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In what may be the oddest news I report on this year, an organization offering cryptocurrency to promote solar power generation has signed a deal to purchase data center capacity in space in order to secure its blockchain wallets from hacking. The SolarCoin Foundation—a "global rewards program" for solar power generators launched in 2014 that awards blockchain currency for each megawatt-hour of electricity generated—has agreed to acquire orbital data storage capacity on the satellite-data centers of SpaceBelt, the planned orbital data communication, processing, and storage service from satellite startup Cloud Constellation.

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In an interview with Ars in May, Cloud Constellation CEO Scott Sobhani explained that SpaceBelt would consist of a network of satellites linked by laser communications, providing a 10-gigabit dedicated orbital network backbone. The satellites, operating in a mix of relatively low orbits, would also provide a cross-connect for a variety of existing satellite communications frequencies. SpaceBelt will apparently include a "unique blockchain technology," according to a press release announcing the deal with SolarCoin, that somehow secures blockchain wallets better by putting them in space.

"SolarCoin will be able to provide its customers with an inviolable record of their transactions, and parties can be recorded and viewed via the internet," a Cloud Constellation spokesperson said in the company's statement on the deal. "[SolarCoin Foundation] will purchase space on the SpaceBelt network to securely host its Cold Storage Vault and protect its $5 billion treasury of SolarCoin currency. When operational, SolarCoin will be the first currency transaction sent to and from space."

Just exactly how putting blockchain wallets on storage aboard orbiting satellites will make them more secure than blockchain wallets in terrestrial data centers is not clear (other than making physical access a bit more difficult, of course). The wallets will still be accessible, albeit with somewhat higher latency, via the Internet. It's also not clear who exactly will be spending or accepting the $5 billion in megawatt-hour SolarCoins. But the companies say that the space-based blockchain transaction system will be in service by late 2018.

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Sean Gallagher
Sean is Ars Technica's IT and National Security Editor. A former Navy officer, systems administrator, and network systems integrator with 20 years of IT journalism experience, he lives and works in Baltimore, Maryland. Emailsean.gallagher@arstechnica.com//Twitter@thepacketrat